Just Like The Rest
by Squeegee Beckinhime
Summary: After Luke starts drinking heavily, he starts hurting Jess. Both slightly OOC!
1. Im gonna make you listen!

**Just Like The Rest**

**_Chapter 1_**

_It started with a smack here and there...he didn't know how much worse it would escalate though!_

Jess had been impossible all day. It was hot and Luke was in no mood to fight with the teen. After yelling at him, Luke told him to get out of the diner and out of his way before he did something he would regret.

Jess didn't fight what his uncle had told him, being banished from the diner for the day was a blessing. He didn't have to work all day so that meant he could spend his time with Rory.

After dropping Rory off at her house just past nine at night, Jess wondered to the bridge and sat down, reading his book he had in his back pocket.

"Not bad" Jess said as he read the last few words of the book. He had managed to read the entire story that night, it was only then that he realised what the time was. "Shit" Jess mumbled as he noticed it had gone three in the morning.

He walked back to Luke's; it was quiet this early in the morning. He opened up the door as quiet as he could trying not to jingle the bell to much so that it wouldn't wake his uncle.

He slowly climbed the stairs and let himself into the apartment. He walked over to the sink to pour himself a glass of water; it was then that he noticed the class that had the left over contents of whiskey. Luke had been drinking the stuff alot lately, that's usually when he yelled at Jess the most.

Just as Jess turned he saw his uncle sitting in the arm chair staring at him across the room. It made him jump a little as it reminded him of times back in New York. Times he would rather forget.

"Where the hell have you been?" Luke asked him, his words slurring slightly. Jess didn't like it when his uncle was drunk, that's when he would pick fights and smack him just a little too hard. He knew it was best not to fight with his uncle in these types of situations.

"I was reading on the bridge and I lost track of time" the teen told him truthfully.

"You expect me to believe that. I bet you were off doing something illegal weren't ya?" Luke said more then asked.

Jess shook his head. His uncle was impossible to communicate with when he was intoxicated.

"No Luke, I wasn't getting into trouble. I told you. I walked Rory home and I went to the bridge to read for a bit and I got lost in my book and I didn't realise how late it had got" he explained to his uncle again.

Luke stood up and began to stagger over to his nephew. Jess tensed slightly, he didn't like drunken people approaching him like this as it never usually ended well.

He stood up tall and straight and locked eyes with his uncle. "I told you your curfew was ten. You never listen do ya? You got a problem with doing as your told kid. I'm gonna be the one to teach you to listen" Luke said looking dangerously at his nephew.

"Luke i..." Jess was cut off by Luke smacking him across the face. Jess was shocked by his uncle's sudden rage and truth be told it terrified him. The one place, the one person in the world he felt safe around had just become like the other men that had been in and out of his life since he were a child.

He refused to let the tears fall that stung his eyes. Instead he looked up at his uncle and said and did nothing. It was better if you didn't fight back in these situations.

"Your gonna start doing as your told" Luke told him. "Go to bed" he added.

Jess hesitated for a second then did as Luke had said. He didn't even bother to get undressed he simply got into bed and covered himself with his blanket, refusing to show Luke how hurt and upset he was.

Jess heard Luke stumble over to his bed and lay down on it. Jess waited until he heard his uncle's snores to let out his emotion. Tears ran down his face. He wiped at them wincing as he wiped his swollen cheek bone.

What had he done to make Luke so mad at him? He noticed his uncle's weird behaviour lately but had no idea what had triggered it. The drinking is was a major part of Luke's anger. He never used to drink this much, so what changed?

To be continued...

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	2. Don't answer me back!

Chapter 2

Jess woke up when he heard Luke getting out of bed at six in the morning to get started in the diner.

He didn't turn to look at him; he kept his eyes closed so that his uncle would think he was still sleeping. A little while later Jess heard Luke leave the apartment and stomp down the stairs.

When he was sure enough that Luke wouldn't walk in at any moment, Jess went into the bathroom to look at his sore face. His cheek bone was bruised and it hurt to touch.

Rory was going to have a field day when she saw the bruise. He knew that her first question would be 'who did you fight with?' and he didn't know if he could handle hearing that. The situation was so much worse than a fight with some random person.

_How the hell was he supposed to explain the bruise without dropping Luke in it?_

As he walked out of the bathroom Jess saw Luke walk into the apartment. He froze. Was he still mad like last night? He looked at his uncle then to the floor. He wasn't going to speak unless spoken too, just incase Luke was still angry.

"Wow, your Bullseye the dog, what the hell happened to your face?" Luke asked him with a worried expression while closing the distance between them to get a better look at his nephews face.

_What the hell? Luke didn't remember doing this? What should I say?_

"Um, i...i hit my face...on...the bathroom door last night, it was dark so..." Jess said trying to sound convincing. Luke nodded slowly, he wasn't sure if his nephew was lying but he had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Are you ok?" his uncle asked him. He raised his arm to put his hand on the teens shoulder, he didn't notice he nephew flinch slightly.

"I'm ok" Jess replied. Luke nodded then headed back down to the diner.

It was a little after nine in the morning and Jess had heard Luke call his name. He was going to have to face the town's people of stars hollow sooner rather than later.

He put his book down on his bed and made his way down the stairs. He pushed aside the curtain and saw Rory and Lorelai sitting at the counter. He was shocked when Rory ran over to him and flung her arms around him.

"Oh my god, are you ok. Luke told me what happened" she told him while squeezing him lightly.

_Told you what? That he can't handle his drink and takes his frustrations out on me? Or did he tell you the sob story I had told him?_

"I'm ok" he replied. Those two words were beginning to lose meaning to him.

"I thought you were going to accuse me of fighting" Jess told her truthfully. She untangled her arms from his neck to look at him.

"To be honest, if Luke hadn't of told me what happened I probably would have thought that. But, the fact that Luke said you went to bed fine and woke up with the bruise then unless you were sleep fighting then the door attacked you in the dark" she told him smiling slightly.

Jess nodded and returned the kiss she planted on his lips. He watched as she walked away to sit back with her mother.

"Does it hurt?" Lorelai asked him. "I'm fine" he replied.

_I'm not fine. I don't know why I'm still here. I want to run as far away as I can. I thought that my old life was left behind but as the saying goes 'your past always catches up with you'._

Jess had worked all day in the diner. He avoided Luke when he could and didn't say much to anyone but that wasn't anything new.

It was just past eight and Luke told Jess his shift was over. Jess nodded and walked to the door. He walked outside into the summer air and breathed in with relief. He couldn't wait to get out of there for a few hours.

After reading on the bridge again, Jess headed back to the diner. On time this time! His Saturday curfew was twelve and it was a quarter to. He wasn't going to give his uncle a reason to smack him again.

He walked upstairs and hesitated to open the apartment door. He didn't have to though. The door swung open and he saw Luke staring at him on the other side, eyes trying to focus on the figure in front of him.

_I'm on time. Why are you looking at me like that again?_

"Get in here" Luke said while grabbing Jess by the arm and yanking him through the door.

"I asked you to do one thing today, one simple thing. Wash the plates and you can't even do that. I looked at them while I was restacking them and more than half are still unclean" Luke yelled at him.

"Luke I didn't wash any plates today, I was behind the counter the whole time. Ceaser did the washing up" Jess explained to his uncle.

_SMACK_

Jess stumbled backwards after his uncles hand crashed into his face. Jess felt blood trickle from his lip down his chin.

"Don't answer me back; we got alot of teaching to do don't we? You don't listen and now your answering back" Luke shouted at his nephew.

Jess trembled slightly.

_What do I do to make people hit me all the time? Am I that much of a burden or nuisance? I made sure I did nothing to piss him off today"_

Again, Luke told Jess to go to bed which Jess did without a fuss.

_What am I going to say to people now about my split lip? _

Jess knew one thing for sure. Something was bothering his uncle and he was going to find out, because for once, he wasn't going to get his ass kicked by a guy who couldn't handle his drink.

To be continued...


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